American Kestrel

[Joe Ford]

Canon 1DmkIII
Canon EF500f4
Canon 1.4 TC
f/9 1/1600
+2/3 EC
From car window
approx 50% crop.
cloned extra branches from background.
sharpend, a little work on the eye.

C&C welcomed

[Robert Amoruso]

Joe,

I like the contrast on the bird as it really accentuates his colors and markings. I would select the branch and lower its contrast. The blue BG could use some noise reduction and maybe a bit more room on the left. I like the over-the-shoulder look as we get to see the back plumage.

[Maxis Gamez]

Hi Joe,

I have to agree with Robert on this one. You also left a dust spot behind the head. I would try to remove some of the noise.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Other than the nits already mentioned it is a fine, fine image. Lovely feather details. :)

[Joe Ford]

Added some space on left
Reduced contrast on branches
Cloned out dust spot (don't know how I missed this)
Ran photoshop noise reduction on background
reduced saturation on background

I do like it better.
Thanks for comments.

[Maxis Gamez]

Looks better!

[Mark Schmitt]

Image of bird is good. The re-post has some marked shift in the color from original post. There are some signs of "clone tracks" about the head and along the upper branch? Still some noise in re-post. Love the bird. ;-)

[Juan Aragonés]

The repost looks much better. Love the bird´s pose, eye contact and sharpness. Regarding the saturation of the BG, I think that an intermediate version is the best solution. Well done!

[Doug Brown]

I like the view from the back Joe. I like the blue of the original post, but agree that some more canvas and NR are in order. Sharpness looks great. Two weeks and counting!